Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for securing a medical article to a patient.
Description of Related Art
Medical patients are often in need of repetitious administering of fluids or medications, or repetitious draining of fluids. It is very common in the medical industry to utilize medical tubing to provide various liquids or solutions to a patient. For example, short, peripherally-inserted, intra-arteriovenous catheters are used to direct fluids and/or medications directly into the bloodstream of the patient, or withdraw fluids from the patient. Often, it is desirable to maintain such catheterization or medical tube insertion over an extended period of time during the treatment of a patient. In some instances, a medical article may be attached to a patient for a lengthy period of time, requiring minimal movement for proper functioning.
It is often advantageous to restrict the movement of the medical tube or article, particularly when the medical article is to be administered to the patient over an extended period of time. A medical article that is not securely attached to the patient may move around, which may cause discomfort or injury to the patient, restrict the administering of fluids or medications or the draining of fluids, cause infection, or become dislodged from the patient unintentionally.
It is common for medical providers to affix the medical article to the patient and to attempt to restrict movement of the medical article by taping the medical article to the patient's skin. Medical articles commonly attached in this way include medical lines, luer locks or other types of connectors, and wound dressings, which are often taped over a wound to secure the dressing and to provide compression to the wound. Securing a medical article with tape, however, has certain drawbacks.
Tape used to secure a medical article, for example at an insertion site of the medical article on the patient's skin, can collect contaminants and dirt. Such collection of contaminants and dirt can lead to infection. Normal protocol therefore requires periodic tape changes in order to inhibit germ growth. Periodic tape changes may also be necessary when replacing or repositioning the medical article.
Frequent tape changes lead to other problems: excoriation of the patient's skin and adherence of contaminant's to the medical article. Repeated removal of tape can excoriate the skin and cause discomfort to the patient. Additionally, removal of tape can itself cause undesired motion of the catheter device upon the patient and irritation of the patient's skin. Repeated applications of tape over the medical article can lead to the build up of adhesive residue on the outer surface of the medical article. This residue can result in contaminants adhering to the medical article itself, increasing the likelihood of infection.
In addition, valuable time is spent applying and reapplying the tape to secure the medical article. And medical providers often remove their gloves when taping because most find the taping procedure difficult and cumbersome when wearing gloves. Not only does this further lengthen the procedure, but it also may subject the medical provider to possible infection and increase the risk of needle-stick. To add to this, residue buildup on the medical article can make the medical article sticker and more difficult to handle for medical providers.
When tape is used to secure dressings over a wound, periodic changes of the dressing are required, which necessitates removal and reapplication of the tape. As discussed above, the frequent removal and reapplication of adhesive tape to the skin of the patient, which is often performed daily, can excoriate the skin in the area around the dressing. Also, sometimes the tape does not adhere well to the dressing when the dressing absorbs fluids or is saturated with medicine. Without proper adherence, it can be difficult to maintain proper compression on the wound or even keep the dressing in place.
Tape also fails to limit medical article motion and, therefore, contributes to motion related complications like phlebitis, infiltration and catheter migration. Consequently, devices have been proposed to address the problems of using tape.
It is desirable to avoid directly taping a medical article to a patient. There is a need to provide a simple, yet effective device for securely holding a medical article in place on a patient's skin, while avoiding aggravating the site at which the medical article is mounted. With the increased concern over rising health care costs, there is also a need for simple and less expensive alternatives to safely securing medical articles. Therefore, a need exists for an improved medical article securement system for use with a patient that overcomes the problems associated with current options.